29.9.09

IS ONDOY OVER?

What happened to our country recently definitely added a new mark in our history. This is so far since the last four decades, the strongest, mightiest thypoon we have faced. Ondoy left our country in a rubble, totally damaged and it so much looks impossible to renovate. It was so hard to think that in just 6 hours, a one-month amount of rain fell and took a lot of lives.

I was, at that time, fighting the current of the flood just to get my self to work. The flood reached my thigh and I was soaking wet all the way up. The rain pelting my skin hurt and I had no choice but to continue waddling through the waters because I could not turn back anymore. There are no ways of getting on a jeepney or taxi. I was scared because I could have gotten electrocuted by the water. The MRT for SLEX was under construction and wires were scattered on the pavement. When I reached my office building, I was relieved, felt myself and was happy realizing that I was alive and safe. I finished work and got home. The flood, gone.

I saw on TV what happened in greater Manila. Makati and Marikina were so flooded. So are Pasig, Antipolo and Bulacan. A lot of lives had been taken and still a lot of people are missing. When the flood settled, a thick brown mud was left on the pavement. What was left with the people's things, houses and cars were just like toys dipped in mud. What was once the business center of the Philippines, Makati, became a swamp in six hours. It was such a horrible sight. It looked like doomsday. I remembered our trip to Bulacan. My daughter was so delighted seing the cows, horses and goats running and eating in the green feilds. Will we ever see them again the next time we go there? I remembered my brother, he lives in Pasig and all his important things were left there. So are his expensive clothes and shoes that he has earned for while he was working. The things he never had in his life when he was young. All gone.

I saw the video of people struggling to keep their children safe, themselves awake and ready, their families together. Those people who were hoping to be rescued, be given food if not rescued or atleast be seen on TV that they were safe, alive or in danger. It pains me in the heart to see these people asking for help but obviously, due to lack of facilities, they could not be. The least they could was to pray that they be helped, rescued and be put to safety. I felt sad and lucky at the same time. Atleast we never had to see the brown mud that the flood left. The flood I waddled into was just purely water and subsided right away after the rain. It did not reach even the floor of our house. I would like to thank God because we are all alive. My brother is safe and so as his family. They have evacuated right away.

PAG-ASA said that had the dropper radar arrived at first, they could have known how much rain Ondoy was to bring. They could have alarmed the people and told them to evacuate right away. But the dropper radar they have ordered abroad is still not being recieved. It's not their fault but still, the people could not help but put a blame on them. A new LPA had been seen approaching our area of responsibility. Will this be as strong as Ondoy? Or stronger? People have not fully recovered yet from what Ondoy had left, and now we are fearing yet another typhoon? Is this a reminder for us to take care of our nature moving forward? Is this a payback? If this is, will we ever learn? This is so much to bear. Let us help other people recover and stand up. Let us help them survive. This is not the time to show off. This is not the time to flaunt that you have donated 10 sacks of rice, 20 boxes of mineral water or 1 million pesos cash pledge. This is the time for prayer and unwavering faith. Let us pray for the people who have lost their lives and those who are still missing. Let us pray for the Earth. For the Philippines. For the whole world.